Art Rooney, 87, Founder of N.F.L.'s Steelers, Dies

By GERALD ESKENAZI

Published: August 26, 1988

Art Rooney Sr., the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a figure on the American sports scene for more than half a century, died yesterday at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, eight days after suffering a stroke in his office at Three Rivers Stadium. He was 87 years old.

''At 7:45 A.M., the Chief passed away in his sleep with his family at his bedside,'' said Mr. Rooney's personal physician, Dr. Theodore Gelet.

Pete Rozelle, the National Football League commissioner, said Mr. Rooney's ''calm, selfless counsel'' made him one of the league's most dominant figures, greatly respected by his fellow owners for his insight and professionalism for more than five decades. 'Universally Loved'

''He was a man who belonged to the entire world of sports,'' Mr. Rozelle said. ''It is questionable whether any sports figure was more universally loved and respected.''

In an era when the race-track world had delicious characters named Bet a Million Gates and Swifty Morgan, a dapper, quiet, stocky little man who called himself Art suddenly eclipsed them all. In two afternoons in the summer of 1936, he parlayed a modest bet into more than $300,000.

But he came to be better known as the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the club he suffered with until it finally won the Super Bowl in 1975 and then, for good measure, took three more. No other team has won four Super Bowls.

He brought his team, then called the Pirates, into the N.F.L. in 1933, then watched it struggle for 40 seasons before becoming the league's premier club of the 1970's. After their 1975 championship, the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 1976, '79 and '80. At his death, he was chairman of the team. Two Days at the Races

In 1936, he became a sports legend. He parlayed a bet - some say $10, others $500 - into $300,000 in two grand days of betting.

His inadvertent cohort in the killing was Timothy J. Mara, owner of the rival Giants but also a legal bookmaker.

Although Mr. Rooney was synonymous with Pittsburgh, where he lived in one neighborhood since the 1930's, he spent much of his time in the summers at the New York tracks. His racing holdings included Yonkers Raceway, which is operated by his son Tim. But he would not bet with Mara, his good friend. One Saturday, Mr. Rooney went to the old Empire City race track in Yonkers and asked Mara to pick a winner for him.

Mr. Rooney reportedly bet $500 on the first race on a horse that was about 14-1 and got back more than $7,000. His run of luck continued, and by day's end he had taken in more than $100,000. The next day, he went up to Saratoga, and on Monday, parlayed his $100,000 into more than $300,000.

When Mr. Rooney came home, he told his wife, Kathleen, who was pregnant, ''We don't have to worry about money again.'' Son Named for Mara

In Mara's honor, the Rooneys named their next child Tim. Chris Mara, a grandson of Timothy J. Mara, is married to one of Mr. Rooney's grandchildren, Kathleen.

Born on Jan. 27, 1901, in Coultersville, Pa., Arthur Joseph Rooney was one of nine children of a saloon keeper who moved his family to Pittsburgh in 1903. Mr. Rooney spent the last 50 years of his life at 940 North Lincoln, in a Victorian house across the street from where he grew up.

As a youth, he played semipro baseball and football and became an amateur boxing champion. He went to Duquesne, where he starred as a 5-foot-7-inch halfback on the football team.

He wound up promoting baseball and football teams and then, in 1933, founded the Steelers. The N.F.L. was still developing and owning a franchise was considered risky business. Mara had been able to buy the Giants franchise in 1925 for $500 and many people thought he was a fool for making that investment. 'Same Old Steelers'

While the Giants became winners, the Steelers became the butt of jokes. They were known as the Same Old Steelers for a comment Mr. Rooney made during World War II.

In 1943, when it was difficult to operate sports franchises because of shortages in manpower and resources, the Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles decided to merge temporarily. The combined franchise was known as the Steagles. Mr. Rooney watched the players working out and remarked, ''Even though they've got new uniforms, they look like the same old Steelers to me.''

Reflecting on the losses, he once remarked: ''We had a standing rule in my house: nobody was allowed to mention the Steelers for two days after we lost. That's how much it bothered me.''

Yet, to the public, he always reflected a gracious, interested demeanor. He seemed genuinely glad to meet people, old friends and new, and had a fatherly attitude toward his players as well.

''He was a very humble person,'' said Terry Bradshaw, the quarterback of the Steelers' four championship teams. ''Losing or winning, he was no different.''

His loyalty to his friends, though, probably kept him from hiring the best coaches for his football team.

By 1969, when the search was on for another coach, his sons Dan and Art told him, ''When you pick a coach this time, put friendship on the bottom of the list.'' The Right Choice

He listened to them and chose Chuck Noll, who is still the Steelers' coach. He even stayed with Mr. Noll after the Steelers, who had won their first game under the new coach, proceeded to lose their next 13. The move finally paid off when the Steelers captured their first championship, winning the Super Bowl in 1975.

By then, the Rooney family had branched out. Dan is the president of the Steelers and Arthur is a vice president. Tim operates Yonkers Raceway, and the twins, Pat and John, are involved in other family businesses.

Around the Steelers, though, only one man was known as the Chief. When Mr. Rooney would pay a visit to the locker room to compliment or console the players, they would stand up no matter how tired they were.

Mr. Rooney, whose wife of 51 years, Kathleen, died in 1982, is survived by five sons, Dan, Art Jr., Pat, Tim and John; 29 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow at 11 A.M. at St. Peter's Church in Pittsburgh.